State Council seeks to adjust agricultural water price

Updated:
Jan 29,2016 8:32 PM
english.gov.cn

China plans to form an agricultural water price mechanism in 10 years that can reflect the cost of the water supply, help save water and fit in with current financing channels, according to a State Council document released on Jan 29.

The policy is aimed at adjusting agricultural water price to cover the cost of operation and maintenance, controlling overall water use, establishing new systems of accurate subsidies and water-saving rewards, as well as promoting advanced water-saving technology.

The State Council urged regions with favorable water engineering facilities to speed up the reform to achieve the goal in three to five years.

The government will first seek to enhance the foundation for reforming the agricultural water price by improving the measuring facilities, managing the agricultural water demand and exploring new ways of managing terminal water use.

Moreover, the State Council called for water prices at different levels to be generated for different categories of crops.

Local governments were urged to set timetables and make concrete plans to implement the policy.